Riley Keough's battle over Graceland ends: Company drops plans for foreclosure sale and is now under investigation
Elvis Presley's Memphis landmark won't be changing hands after all.
Riley Keough's legal battle over Graceland has apparently come to an end.
After a Tennessee judge temporarily blocked Naussany Investments and Private Lending on May 22 from selling the former home of Elvis Presley in a foreclosure sale, the company said it will drop its claim.
The dispute stems from a $3.8 million loan the lending company said Lisa Marie Presley, Keough's late mother, took out in 2018, using Graceland as collateral, and never repaid. Keough filed a lawsuit against the company on May 20 after it advertised a foreclosure auction of Elvis Presley's home set for May 23. She claimed the sale was fraudulent and that her late mother's signature on the loan documents was forged.
The Tennessee attorney general is looking into Naussany Investments to determine if there was any misconduct.
??What just happened?
Keough, the sole trustee of her grandfather Elvis Presley’s Memphis estate after her mom's 2023 death, scored a legal victory on May 22 when Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued the temporary injunction halting the auction.
Hours later, an attorney for Keough "received an email from Gregory Naussany confirming they do not intend to move forward with their claim," a Graceland rep told People magazine.
Naussany Investments emailed a statement to the Associated Press saying the company would not proceed because a key document in the case and the loan were recorded and obtained in a different state, so “legal action would have to be filed in multiple states.” As a result, “The company will be withdrawing all claims with prejudice."
Naussany said in an email to the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "There was no harm meant on Ms. Keough."
The attempted foreclosure is now being investigated by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office.
"I have asked my lawyers to look into this matter, determine the full extent of any misconduct that may have occurred, and identify what we can do to protect both Elvis Presley’s heirs and anyone else who may be similarly threatened," he said in a statement on May 23.
Keough said in her legal filing last week that her mother “never borrowed money from Naussany Investments" nor did she give the company a deed of trust for Graceland. She alleged that the business “is not a real entity,” but was “created for the purpose of defrauding” Keough’s (previously Lisa Marie’s) Promenade Trust.
The Daisy Jones & the Six actress claimed her mother's signature was forged on the alleged loan documents. The notary listed as a witness to the loan, Kimberly Philbrick, said she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her. Keough's filing alleged that the “individuals who were involved in the creation of such documents are believed to be guilty of the crime of forgery.”
Elvis Presley Enterprises — the corporate entity that runs Graceland — backed Keough's claims that the auction was fraudulent. “There is no foreclosure sale. Simply put, the counter lawsuit has been filed to stop the fraud.”
Priscilla Presley, Elvis’s former wife and Keough’s grandmother, deemed it a “scam.”
?? How we got here
Last summer, Keough was granted control of the Graceland home, Elvis’s belongings and 15% of Elvis Presley Enterprises after her mother’s sudden death and her brief legal battle with Priscilla.
In September, Naussany Investments and Private Lending sued the estate, claiming Lisa Marie defaulted on the loan, which was supposed to have been paid off by May 2022. The company claimed it had no contact with Lisa Marie after March 2022 and that attempts to reach her were unsuccessful. Naussany Investments said it would drop the lawsuit if the estate paid 75% percent of the debt, or around $2.85 million, within 45 days.
Lisa Marie had financial problems during her life. She inherited her father’s estate, worth an estimated $100 million, when she was 25. Failed business deals and overspending led to her selling 85 percent of the stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2005. (She later sued her former business manager, Barry Siegel, claiming he mismanaged the estate.) In the $114 million sale, Lisa Marie received $50 million cash, $26 million in stock and had $25 million of debt erased. She retained 15% of Elvis Presley Enterprises as well as ownership of Graceland and its original items. Elvis Presley Enterprises changed hands again in 2013, with Lisa Marie retaining her stake.
Lisa Marie was buried at Graceland last year, near her father, grandparents and son Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020. In an interview after her mother’s death, Keough talked about what the estate meant to her and her plans for Graceland, which included a Christmas special she produced.
As sole trustee, Keough also manages the trusts of her two younger siblings, 15-year-old half-sisters Finley and Harper Lockwood, who are Lisa Marie's daughters from her marriage to musician Michael Lockwood.
Updated, May 23, 2024 5:22 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect that Naussany Investments dropped its claims and is now under investigation.
